Lukas knows what Pletcher is feeling

BALTIMORE — Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas has been down this Preakness road more than once.

Going into Saturday, Lukas had saddled a record 34 horses in the second leg of the Triple Crown. And he had won the race five times. Lukas will saddle two more horses on Saturday, Northern Giant and Dublin.

He watched this week as his protege, Todd Pletcher, prepared his first Kentucky Derby winner — Super Saver — for the Preakness. Pletcher, who worked for Lukas from 1989-96, has never won the Preakness.

“He is going to be sick of you guys before it’s all over,” Lukas said to a group of media. “That’s a given. You get through the Derby and, after the Derby, there is no relief from all the attention. That is part of it, I understand that. But, by the time they run the race, if Todd opens his heart, he will say he is damn glad it’s Saturday at 6 o’clock and he’s damn glad they are going to run the damn thing.”